BOBST at Corrugated 2026: Why the Next Battle Is Not Speed, but Smarter Plants

Corrugated converters are entering a more difficult phase.

The easy e-commerce growth story is weaker than it was during the pandemic boom. Labour is harder to find. Margins are under pressure. Customers want shorter runs, faster deliveries and more consistent quality. And many plants are discovering a painful truth: buying a faster machine does not automatically create a more efficient factory.

BOBST Connect visual — digitalization links pre-press, production, maintenance, market data and optimization into a more connected packaging workflow.

This was the strongest message behind BOBST’s three core presentations at Corrugated 2026 @ FESPA in Barcelona. BOBST was the overall event sponsor and used the conference to focus on three connected themes: e-commerce pressure, robotics and digitalization. Christian Vionnet spoke about overcapacity and the future of e-commerce; Jan Deschuytter explained the role of robotics in corrugated production; and David Arnaud showed why automation alone is no longer enough without digital visibility. The message was not simply “buy more technology”. It was more precise than that. The next advantage in corrugated packaging will come from plants that can connect machines, people, robots, data, inspection and material flow into one smarter production system.

Why BOBST’s message matters

BOBST is not a small technology vendor trying to create attention around one product. Founded in 1890 by Joseph Bobst in Lausanne, Switzerland, the company has become one of the most influential suppliers in the global packaging equipment industry. BOBST operates through a worldwide sales and service network, with a presence in more than 50 countries, 21 production facilities in 12 countries and more than 6,000 employees. The financial context also matters. BOBST’s consolidated sales for 2025 were reported at CHF 1.622 billion, down from CHF 1.891 billion in 2024. That makes the Corrugated 2026 message more interesting. BOBST is talking about automation, robotics and digitalization in a market where even large equipment groups face slower sales, more cautious investment cycles and customers who must justify every capital project more carefully. For corrugated board producers, this is the real background: technology still matters, but payback discipline matters even more.

1. Christian Vionnet: e-commerce is no longer a simple growth engine

Christian Vionnet, Product Marketing Director for flatbed die-cutters and flexo post-printers at BOBST, presented “Could the eCommerce bubble burst? From Overcapacity to Opportunity: Rethinking the Future of Corrugated Packaging” at Corrugated 2026 @ FESPA. Photo: The Packaging Portal / Brunton Business Publications

Problem: the e-commerce boom created capacity, but not always stability. Christian Vionnet, Product Marketing Director for flatbed die-cutters and flexo post-printers at BOBST, presented a session titled “Could the eCommerce bubble burst? From Overcapacity to Opportunity: Rethinking the Future of Corrugated Packaging.” For years, e-commerce looked like one of the safest growth drivers for corrugated packaging. Online retail expanded, more parcels were shipped, and converters invested in capacity. But after the 2020–2021 surge, the market became more complicated. According to The Packaging Portal’s report from Corrugated 2026, Vionnet connected the post-boom environment with overcapacity, lower utilisation and pressure on margins. The problem is not that e-commerce has disappeared. The problem is that the market is less forgiving. This also connects with another figure from BOBST’s Corrugated 2026 content: David Arnaud noted that converters are operating at around 80% capacity utilisation. That figure is important. If a plant is already carrying unused capacity, the answer is not always to add more machines. The answer is often to improve utilisation, setup efficiency, job change speed, waste control and labour productivity. BOBST’s answer: converters need to move from volume thinking to flexible operations. Vionnet highlighted four capabilities that matter in this new phase: integration, agility, automation and precision. That is a useful framework for corrugated board producers. A large plant with good machines can still struggle if it is slow to change orders, dependent on manual handling or unable to maintain repeatable quality across different run lengths. BOBST later summarised the same idea in its own communication: after years of e-commerce-driven growth, converters now face volatility, overcapacity, increasing complexity and margin pressure. Success is no longer only about producing more. It is about producing smarter. Lesson for converters: e-commerce is no longer just a growth market. It is becoming a test of operational flexibility. The question is not only: “Can we produce more boxes?” The better question is: “Can we produce different boxes faster, with fewer losses and more predictable quality?”

2. Jan Deschuytter: robotics is becoming an investment case

Jan Deschuytter, Technology Sales Manager at BOBST, presented “The Huge Potential of Robotics in the Corrugated Board Industry” at Corrugated 2026 @ FESPA, focusing on how robotics can reduce manual handling and improve production flow from loading to palletising.

Problem: labour shortage is no longer only an HR issue. Jan Deschuytter, Technology Sales Manager at BOBST, presented “The Huge Potential of Robotics in the Corrugated Board Industry.” This was probably the most practical part of the story because it moved robotics away from futuristic language and into factory economics. BOBST’s robotics message is based on a simple reality: corrugated plants still depend heavily on manual work in feeding, loading, palletising and handling. These are physically demanding areas, and they become harder to manage when labour is scarce, expensive or unstable. BOBST’s answer: automate the most repetitive and physically demanding points in the converting flow. BOBST highlighted two key solutions. ROBOLOADER automates the transfer of blank piles and removes manual intervention at the feeder. ROBOPALLETIZER automatically stacks piles or batches in multiple pallet configurations and automates the palletising process. The numbers are the strongest part — but they should be read correctly. According to The Packaging Portal’s report, BOBST said it has installed more than 450 robotic systems globally, delivers around 50 new robotic solutions each year, and has more than 325 installations operating in Europe. For plants running three shifts, BOBST examples pointed to annual labour savings of several hundred thousand euros, payback periods below two years, and in some cases payback in under 12 months. These are BOBST’s own figures, so they should not be treated as a universal guarantee for every plant. They are best understood as a benchmark for cases where robotic loading, palletising or handling directly replaces repetitive manual work in high-utilisation operations. This changes the discussion. Robotics is not only about showing a “factory of the future”. For a high-volume converter, it can become a financial calculation: labour saved, safety improved, uptime protected and manual bottlenecks reduced. There is also a strategic reason why BOBST is pushing this topic. In May 2023, BOBST acquired a majority share in Dücker Robotics, an Italian company active in robotic loading and palletising for the corrugated board sector. The move supported BOBST’s wider vision of a more automated and interconnected packaging production line. Pierre Binggeli, Head of Product Line Folder-gluers & Robotics at BOBST, has also framed robotics as part of an end-to-end production chain. He noted that customers in the corrugated industry value the possibility of controlling the whole production line with one partner, and that robotic solutions have become one of the final elements enabling this approach. That idea is important because it shows why robotics is not a separate side topic for BOBST. It is part of a wider attempt to offer a more complete production system. Lesson for converters: labour shortage is becoming an automation investment case. But there is also a risk. Robotics is not a magic solution. It requires capital, layout planning, integration, operator training and service support. A robot added into a weak process can simply automate the wrong problem. The best candidates are plants where manual feeding, palletising or handling clearly limits output, safety or labour efficiency. Before investing, converters should ask:

How many manual touches are required per order?
Which process stops because people are unavailable?
How many shifts does the line run?
How often does manual handling limit machine speed?
Can the expected labour savings justify the payback?

That is where the robotics argument becomes serious.

3. David Arnaud: automation is not enough without digitalization

David Arnaud, Product Marketing Director for flexo folder-gluers and rotary die-cutters at BOBST, presented “Automation in the Modern Corrugated Box Plant and the Importance of Digitalisation” at Corrugated 2026 @ FESPA, arguing that automation is no longer sufficient without real-time digital visibility.

Problem: machines can run fast, but plants often cannot see where performance is lost. David Arnaud, Product Marketing Director for flexo folder-gluers and rotary die-cutters at BOBST, presented “Automation in the Modern Corrugated Box Plant and the Importance of Digitalization.” This presentation was important because it moved the conversation from machine automation to plant visibility. A converter does not always need a complete factory transformation. Sometimes the better approach is modular: digital dashboards, setup assistance, integrated inspection or closed-loop process control — added where the operational need is strongest. Packaging Impressions reported that Arnaud identified four main pressure points for converters in 2026: market saturation, demand mutation, margin pressure and workforce turnover. That makes the case for digitalization clearer. It is not technology for technology’s sake. It is a response to complexity. BOBST’s answer: automation should be combined with digital visibility. Automation can move, set, feed, stack and inspect. But it does not always explain what is changing, where performance is lost or which settings worked best before. Digitalization adds that missing layer. Arnaud’s strongest idea can be summarised like this: Automation executes. Digitalization reveals. According to Packaging Impressions, Arnaud described digitalization through three functions: it reveals what is changing, captures what works and signals what is coming. That matters for corrugated plants because production knowledge is often stored in people’s heads. When experienced operators retire, the plant can lose more than labour. It can lose practical memory: settings, habits, workarounds and process instincts. Digital systems can help preserve some of that knowledge. The numbers from the presentation make the argument stronger: ACCUCHECK can inspect 100% of boxes produced. New-generation die-cutters can reduce energy consumption per unit produced by approximately 12%. Sequential order change technology can save around two minutes per setup. Those two minutes can translate into approximately 3% more machine availability annually. Again, these figures are BOBST’s claims from the Corrugated 2026 presentation and should be treated as performance examples, not automatic outcomes for every plant. This is where digitalization becomes practical. Two minutes per setup can sound small. But imagine a plant that changes orders dozens of times per day. The value is not in one setup. The value is in repeated savings across the year. Lesson for converters: digitalization is not about beautiful dashboards. It is about finding losses that are too small to see once, but too expensive to ignore when repeated every day.

Traditional plant vs smart plant thinking

The three presentations point to a shift in how converters should evaluate investment.

Traditional approach	Smart plant approach
Buy a faster machine	Improve the full production flow
Measure speed only	Measure uptime, setup time, waste and labour use
Solve labour shortage by hiring	Reduce dependency on repetitive manual work
Treat inspection as a quality department issue	Use 100% inspection and process feedback
Keep knowledge with senior operators	Capture recipes, settings and process data
Automate one machine	Connect machines, robotics, handling and data

This is the real value of BOBST’s Corrugated 2026 message. It moves the conversation from individual equipment to system performance.

Competitive context: BOBST is not alone in this race

BOBST is one of the most influential players in corrugated converting equipment, but the wider shift toward automation, robotics, digital control and end-of-line efficiency is not limited to one supplier. The same pressure is reshaping the wider corrugated equipment market. Corrugator suppliers, converting equipment manufacturers, peripheral automation companies and logistics specialists are all moving in the same direction: faster production, less dependence on manual labour, better uptime and more predictable factory performance. Companies such as BHS Corrugated, EMBA, BW Papersystems, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, SUN Automation and Koenig & Bauer Celmacch are also addressing different parts of this challenge. Some suppliers focus mainly on corrugator performance and dry-end automation. Others focus on converting speed, flexo-folder-gluers, rotary die-cutters or flatbed die-cutters. Others specialise in peripherals, palletising, strapping, internal logistics or digital workflow. BOBST’s Corrugated 2026 message is interesting because it connects several of these themes into one story: converting equipment, robotics, digitalization, inspection, setup time and full-plant performance. That does not make BOBST the only answer. But it shows where the competitive conversation is moving. The next supplier battle will not be only about machine speed. It will be about who can help converters reduce losses between machines, protect uptime, capture production knowledge and justify automation with measurable payback.

Checklist for corrugated converters in 2026–2027

The practical question for converters is not: “Should we buy the newest technology?” The better question is: “Where does our plant lose money every day?” A useful internal audit can start with these points:

Setup time How many changeovers are made per day, and how many minutes are lost on each one?
Manual handling Where do operators still move sheets, piles, batches or pallets by hand?
Feeding and palletising Do feeding or palletising limit the speed of converting lines?
Labour dependency Which processes stop or slow down when experienced operators are unavailable?
Quality control Is inspection sample-based, or can the plant inspect 100% of output where required?
Energy use Which machines or processes consume more energy per unit produced than expected?
Data visibility Can managers see real-time performance, setup losses, waste and quality trends?
Knowledge retention Are the best machine settings stored digitally, or only known by senior operators?
Modular investment path Can automation be added step by step, or does the plant need a disruptive full rebuild?
Payback discipline Can every automation project be linked to labour savings, uptime gains, waste reduction or additional capacity?

This kind of checklist makes the BOBST presentations useful beyond one conference. It turns the message into a management question.

BOBST technology showcase — digital workflows, inspection and automation are becoming central to the next stage of packaging production.

The key conclusion

BOBST’s Corrugated 2026 presentations should not be read only as product marketing. They show a broader shift in the corrugated board industry. E-commerce pressure is forcing converters to rethink capacity. Labour shortage is making robotics more economically relevant. Digitalization is becoming necessary because plants need to see losses, preserve knowledge and improve repeatability. At the same time, claims around payback, labour savings and productivity gains need to be tested plant by plant. A three-shift operation with heavy manual palletising may justify robotics quickly. A smaller plant with lower utilisation may need a more gradual path: setup assistance, inspection, workflow data or selective end-of-line automation. That is where the real lesson sits. A faster machine can help. A robot can help. A dashboard can help. But the advantage comes only when these tools solve the specific constraints of the plant. In the next phase of corrugated packaging, the winners will not simply be the companies with the strongest machines. They will be the companies that know exactly where their factory loses time — and have the discipline to fix it.

Sources

The Packaging Portal, Packaging Impressions, FESPA, BOBST corporate communications, BOBST information on Dücker Robotics, and BOBST public company information.

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Tags: BOBST Corrugated 2026 corrugated packaging digitalization robotics